AntiSocial Media

I was asked a question a couple weeks ago at a seminar in Columbus, Ohio. Because I wanted to give a detailed response, I emailed her, and I’m sharing the email with you.

She asked:

My company is considering groupon and I have been cautioning against it.

What info do you have on the effectiveness of social media including Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Thank you again for a meaningful morning.

I replied:

It’s a great question, and you’re right to caution against it. I’m afraid I don’t have any simple answers for you, but I want to point you to three resources that might help a little. You also might try googling “social media effectiveness case studies” to see what you can find. You can also trust the site Hubspot as well as Marketing Profs and Social Media Examiner in terms of reliable content.

My three suggestions:

1) Review my short video and blog post about Groupon, plus a second post that links through to something else worth reading.

http://timmilesandco.com/what-do-you-think-about-groupon-type-marketing/

http://timmilesandco.com/tom-fishburne-on-groupon/

2) Take a look through my slide deck about practical applications of social media.

http://www.slideshare.net/writegooder/practically-social-practical-applications-of-social-media

3) Be sure to read “My Social Media Advice to Heidi” in Good Company. It’s Chapter 94 on Page 223 and “Six Social Media Tips” on Page 225. I’m attaching the PDF of the book here for your to freely share with your company.

All this said, it doesn’t mean I don’t think social media can help your business. That’s why I said I don’t have any simple advice for you. You have a delightful product. You have a great website, and I know you would benefit from sharing the stories behind your creations.

I know you would benefit from a great blog, the right kind of email marketing, Pinterest, Facebook, youtube, and more. It’s just not easy – without having more information about your company – to suggest these strategies.

I hope these few resources, at least, point you in the right direction.

One more – consider sharing these two quick posts and videos of relational versus transaction with your team. Hopefully, it will help remind them that going down the transactional/Groupon road path to discounted, margin-eating oblivion:

http://timmilesandco.com/how-can-you-target-relational-customers-with-an-internet-store-video/

http://timmilesandco.com/customers-relational-transactional-social/

Thanks again!

Tim